capital bureau chief for wrl-tv in north carolina. the university of north carolina at charlotte political science professor will discuss the north carolina boat. -- the north carolina vote.

>> even back then, barack obama was the guy who picked me up for our dates in a car that was so rusted out, i could actually see the pavement going by in a hole on the passenger side door [laughter] he was the guy whose proudest possession was a coffee table he found in a dumpster. [laughter] and who's on a pair of decent shoes was a half a size too small. host: the front page of "the charlotte observer" - and "the chicago shop -- and of the chicago sun-times." we want to hear from you on the role of the first lady in campaigns.

we have also set aside our fourth line this morning if you happen to be a democratic national convention delegates. we would love to hear from you and your experiences. you can contact us electronically as well. on the front page of "the richmond times dispatch" --

and "the boston globe" -- "the chicago tribune" -- "hartford currant" --- here is "the oran county register" --- "the l.a. times" -- here is" a washington times"

we want to hear about you on the role of the first lady in a presidential campaign. mrs. obama is not the first lady to speak at a presidential convention. we have a republican from maryland. caller: good morning. i think they did an excellent,

excellent job. i am a john wesley right republican. host: what is that mean? caller: that was, believe the -- that was condoleezza rice rice's father. i want to let people know how great a job duval patrick did. his speech was probably the greatest one and michelle was good, castro was good. everyone was great. everyone was great. they made their point without being derisive of the republicans. there were not at nasty or evil. i don't like the way the

republicans kept taking the "you didn't build that" out of context. we need to do a better job of making the argument without taking things out of context, thank you. host: thanks for calling in this morning. our next call is from montana. this is on our democrats line. how would you describe the role of first ladies in a presidential campaign. caller: i think the role of a first lady and the presidential campaign is sharing the personal aspects of the presidential candidate. we are black and as ranchers and farmers rating -- raising grain. i worked in the obama campaign

last time but over the years, there was so much stonewalling in congress, i got discouraged. with michelle last night, she stuck to her role as first lady and what her impressions are of her husband now as well as before when he -- as well as before he became president. i could feel my enthusiasm coming back [choked up] he has given us some things that are difficult to put through congress. i would hope that enthusiasm -- that the problems that exist in the past could be overcome. host: thank you for calling in this morning from montana. if you happen to be one of the 5500 delegates down in charlotte to the democratic

national convention, we would like to hear from you as well -- here is a picture of the president and his daughters watching michelle obama from the white house last night. you can see the tweet that his campaign sent out last night. next call comes from michigan, independent line. caller: i think they should be the first ladies, supportive from the outside. i really don't feel that this buildup is necessary. just bring out the president and let him give his pitch and let's get on with the show. some of the stuff that she said makes no sense to me.

with all the dinners and he is a way so much, i would have liked to of heard from melia and sasha and their impressions of their dead. how their time in washington has been as compared to chicago and how they are getting along in school and if they're looking forward to a second term. she looked very pretty and she is made up and she is dressed but do we need this? host: on your screen is a live picture of the inside of the time warner cable arena in charlotte at the democratic national convention and it convenes again tonight at 5:00 p.m. bill clinton will be the closer tonight to deliver the nomination speech for president obama. our coverage begins at 4:00 p.m. live. we will be liable daylong on cspan so stay tuned for the

democratic national convention or you can go to c-span.org where you confine the individuals budget -- speeches that have been delivered an exclusive video and tweets from delegates and different tweets that different people are sending in. it is a very interactive sites. . there is a lot going on there. c-span.org and there is to our convention hub. yesterday, "the washington post" had this article --

rafael in laredo, texas, you are on the air, what do you think of first ladies? republican line. caller: i think she spoke well last night. i was very impressed with what she had to say.

mayor castro is the one who knocked it out of the park. i was impressed with those two speakers. they will help the president. get reelected. host: thank you. here is a little bit more of michelle obama from last night. >> [video clip] serving as your first lady is an honor and privilege but back when we first came together four years ago, i still have some concerns about this journey we begun. while i believe deeply in my husband's vision for this country and i was certain he would make an extraordinary president, like any mother, i was worried about what it would

mean for our girls if he got that chance. how would we keep them grounded under the glare of the national spotlight? how would they feel to be uprooted from their school, their friends, and their home they have known. our life before moving to washington was filled with simple joys -- saturdays at soccer games, sundays at grandma's house, and a date night for barack and may was either dinner or a movie because as an exhausted mom, i could not stay awake for both. [laughter] and the truth is, i love to the life we have billed for our girls and i deeply loved the man i had built that life with and i did not want that to change it became president. [applause] host: from the time warner cable arena tonight -- here is a "national journal" article.

there's a picture of cory booker, the mayor of newark. cleveland, texas, on our democrats line -- what do you think of the role of first lady and the presidential campaign? caller: i think michelle obama

is great and she really represented her husband at the country. she really represented the country well as she has in the past four years. she gave honor to military families and i think she was really good. also the guy from san antonio, i think he was one of the best. in fact, he may have been better. he really rallied for obama and i hope all the democrats and independents and republicans bring obama back for another four years. host: our next call is from michigan. caller: i want to applaud you guys on the coverage of both conventions.

with regard to the role of the first lady, what else do you expect them to say te? it is nothing more than rallying the troops. i doubt anyone would be switching sides based on watching either convention. you are rallying the base. people were calling in and saying alameda's they were but what do they expect? -- saying how amazed they were but what do they expect? if you don't have your mind made up two months out, something is wrong with you because you have not been paying attention.

a good presentation on both sides but not a game changer, in my opinion. host: if you are a delicate at the democratic national convention, we have a separate line for you. you can give us an update on your activities and what you thought of the speeches so far. this is from facebook --

julain castro we have talked about a little bit. here is of little bit of him. [video clip] >> the romney/ryan budget does not just pummel the middle class -- it dismantles it. it dismantles with generations before have bill to ensure that everybody can enter and stay in the middle class. when it comes to getting the middle class back to work, mitt romney says no. when it comes to respecting women's rights, mitt romney says it now. when it comes to letting people love with a love and married to the one to mary, mitt romney says now. when it comes to expanding access to good health care, mitt romney said no.

actually [laughter] actually -- [applause] actually -- actually -- mitt romney said yes and now he says no. governor romney has undergone an extreme makeover. [laughter] [applause] pretty.in't here is what we will say to mitt romney in november. we will sell no. host: from " the new york times" this morning, this review of michelle obama's appearance.

all week long, if you want to make a comment on twitter about what you're seeing at the democratic national convention, the past tech is rigid -- the has tag is rigid

>> as a mother of five boys, do we want to raise our month -- our children to be afraid of success that story send their children out in the world with the advice to try to do ok? let's be honest, if the last four years have been more successful, do we think there would be best attack on mitt romney's success? of course not. mitt will be the first to tell you he is the most fortunate man in the world. he had two loving parents to given strong values and taught him the value of work. he had the occasion his father never had but as his partner on this amazing journey, i can tell you mitt romney was not handed success. [applause] he built it. host: what do you think about

the role of first lady in presidential campaigns? caller: mrs. obama -- i believe she is sincere, i really do. i have to say that -- does she really know her husband, about his comings and goings and what he does and doesn't do? she went on to talk about how poor he was. he said he picked her up in a car that had a hole where you could see the pavement. issues or half a size too small and that he had a coffee table of a dumpster. this man never really had a job. he was there no time at all in

the senate and now runs for president. people should stop to realize where all this money came from from a man who never held a job. host: a democrat from milwaukee, we're asking about the role of first lady in a presidential campaign. last chance for milwaukee -- caller: good morning. my name is rev. william jackson. host: we are listening. caller: mrs. obama talked about her husband. barack obama is one of the best

present we have ever had. we will send him back to washington to complete what he started. host: what do you think about the role of a first lady in the campaign? caller: she is beautiful and there were together and that means a whole lot.

do i think that barack obama is doing a great job? i do not know all of its

decisions that he has made thus far, but i am an -- a victim of equal pay for equal work. i am educated. iot remembers those individuals -- i hope he remembers those individuals in the middle class. host: cnn fact subject -- a fact check about those 4.5 million jobs --

again, this is from cnn this morning. president obama was in virginia a yesterday campaigning. here is a little bit of the president. [video clip] >> we come too far to go back. we got a lot more young people to send to college. we have teachers we need to hire and schools we need to build. that've got more veterans we've got to take care of. we've got more opportunity -- the doors of opportunity we've got to open up. and we've got to walk through those doors. that is why i'm running for a second term. host: lead editorial from usa

today --

gene sperling, who is the president of the economic council has an opposing editorial this morning.

that is a little bit of gene sperling's opposing editorial in usa today. the convention kicks off at 5:00 p.m., but from 4:00 p.m., our preview show. during the live show at 4:00 p.m., david maraniss, author of the barack obama book that came out this year. and he has also written a barker fee of bill clinton. he will be one of the guest this morning, along with david wasserman of the cook political report. and finally come on robert gibbs of the obama campaign. -- and finally, robert gibbs of the obama campaign. at 5:00 p.m., the convention

gave two kicks off. -- today two kicks off. here is a look at who will be speaking. you can tune in for gavel-to- gavel coverage.

that is all tonight on day two of the democratic national convention at the charlotte arena. next call comes from san marino, california. brian, thank you for holding. caller: even as a conservative, i love the first lady's speech.

it was graceful. it was lovely. i cannot begin to express my respect for her and what she is trying to do. even though i'm not planning to vote for president obama. however, i want to make a comment on the coverage of c- span. i love the gavel to gavel and no-nonsense, but one thing our -- i remember in going through the republican convention and now the democratic convention, the first day is the cutaways. the speakers speak and then they cut away to the audience. it i know there are more african-americans and people of color of the democratic convention, but i could not help but notice that almost every cutaway shots from the speaker had a minority at the democratic

convention, but at the republican convention there was almost no one. i have no way of knowing what the actual numbers were of the people were there, but it struck me. when you look at the long shots of the democratic convention, it looks like america. the cutaways seem to me -- i do not want to seem racist and i do not want to harp on anything, but it seemed to me there was a real emphasis on showing people of color in the cutaway shots much more so than at the republican convention. it host: thank you for the comment, brian. the 50% of the delegates of the democratic convention are women, and 30% are african-american.

are you still on the line? caller: i am. i just do not know what the numbers are at all. i was struck watching the cutaways during the convention. it host: during the convention, c-span does not control those cameras. and not passing the blame or anything, but letting you know that we do not control the cameras during the actual convention. caller: oh, ok. host: what did you think of ann romney's speech. caller: i saw some at -- some outtakes and i thought it was a very nice speech. michelle obama's speech was very powerful. host: portsmouth, brian, what did you think of the speech by the first lady? caller: number one, she is very attractive and it is important to show the spouse.

and the person that a person takes for a long-term relationship shows the character of a person. she also brought up some interesting things. i am a vietnam era veteran. i have a degree in political science and i did it through veterans benefits. and i think, more power to them. i think that is putting the money in the right place, to educate people to become better citizens and to aspire like obama did to the presidency. that is my comment. host: we appreciate your call in this morning from the washington -- -- we appreciate your call in this morning, jerry. from the "washington post" here is a map.

next call from fredericksburg, virginia. glenn, you are on c-span's "washington journal." caller: to answer the question of what the role is of the first lady as well as the spouse of the opposing candidates, they need to support their husband, or if we eventually get a female candidate, to support their wife. and also, to let people know a little bit more personal lives

in to who their spouse is and what they believe in. i watched both mr. romney's and michelle obama's speeches. i think they both did an excellent job. one of the things that was lacking in mrs. rahm a's speech -- mrs. romney's speech was to provide a little bit more about what mr. romney plans to do once elected, and unfortunately, he did not do that either once he had the opportunity. mrs. obama had this opportunity last night to put some clear policy out there. i am an independent. i am one of the people that both parties are trying to reach. i am extremely disappointed in the republicans. as an independent, i do my own

fact checking, looking into the things that both sides are saying. there were people speaking at the convention that were pretty much pat leia untrue. host: here are some tweaks that we have been receiving on the role of first ladies. this is c.j.. c.j. said she looks good and a polished appearance. eleanor roosevelt and michelle obama hit from runs. and another that said they show really clinton's 96 speech last night and, in retrospect, you could send she would do amazing things. and here is steve.

oh, the president had to be watching c-span. was everybody? here is a little more from britain -- michelle obama last night. [video clip] >> when people ask me whether being in the white house has changed by has been, i can honestly say when it comes to character and his convictions and his heart, barack obama is still the same man i fell in love with all those years ago. he is the same man who started his career by turning down high- paying jobs and, instead, working in struggling neighborhoods where a plant had shut down and fighting for those communities to get back -- get folks back to work. for barack commodity is not about how much money you make, but the the prince you make in people's lives. [applause]

-- but the difference you make in people's lives. [applause] he is the same man. he is the same man that when our girls were firstborn was anxiously checked their cribs every few minutes to ensure they are still breathing, proudly showing them off to anyone we knew that is the man that sits down with me and our girls for dinner nearly every night, patiently answering questions about things in the news, strategizing of our middle school friendships. -- about middle school friendships. that is the man that i see hon shot over his desk will get night, poring over -- hunched over his desk late at night, poring over the letters from the

man struggling to pay his bills to the woman dying of cancer because insurance will not pay for care. i see the concern in his eyes. and i hear the determination in his voice as he tells me, "you will not believe what these folks are going through, michelle. it is not right. we've got so much more to do." [cheers and applause] i.c.e. pago stories -- i see how will those stories -- host: jessup, md., steve on the republican line. what do you think about the role of first ladies in presidential campaigns? caller: good morning.

but michele obama did an excellent job describing her husband being a father. that is where 99% of fathers are supposed to do. she was very articulate in her speech. i did like her speech. just because you're a good father does not mean you will be a good president. i feel the same way with ann romney when she was talking. obama, the only thing i'm not happy about with him is the budget, the deficit. in my personal household, a truck driver. my wife is x military. the combined total dollar is just barely cutting it. we have to cut back on a lot of stuff where he feels everything has to be done.

get more money, get it done. we will pay for it later. that will put us in the situation where greece is. i just heard you guys say a half hour ago or so that it is $120,000 per household. a few years ago it was only $15,000 per household. that is almost a two-year salary for me. how is our country going to get out of this mess if we do not stop with these feel-good projects? i understand these -- people's decisions that they do. they fall behind and they need help. i understand that. the truly poor, fine. but the people who made bad decisions and expect somebody else to bail them out need to stop.

the president is just bailing everybody out, with the joerres corp., whether your wall street, whether you are -- whether you are a corp., wall street, or an individual that fell behind. host: are you calling from your truck right now? caller: yes, i am on my bluetooth at work. host: are you listening on xm -- sirius xm or locally on your radio? caller: i am listening locally. host: we appreciate it. gavel-to-gavel coverage on c- span, c-span.org and on c-span radio in the baltimore area as well as serious xm radio. live gavel-to-gavel coverage of all the conventions. and if you go to c-span.org, our convention of, you'll be able to find every minute of every

convention since 1984 on line. there is an easy search function. just type in a name. all of the speeches from last night are available. our next call comes from brooklyn, new york. hi, gloria. caller: good morning. host: what did you think of the first lady's speech? caller: i already had my mind made up to vote for obama. i did watch a little bit of the republican convention. paul ryan talked about growing up in the same area and with the same church. it is kind of leave it to beaver. i am retired. and my husband is a vietnam veteran. i want to say i like what they

are doing for the vets. grandparents have a lot to do with what is going on. i lived in brooklyn. there's a lot of gun violence. mayor bloomberg is gun-control. it is education control. on all the points that they need to change to make this country great, they are the opportunity. i loved the julien castro's speech. host: last week, and ann romney spoke. here is a little bit of her speech. [video clip] >> i was there when he had a small group of friends starting to talk about a new company. i was there when they struggled and wondered if the whole idea was just not going to work. his reaction was to work harder

and press on. today, the company has become another great american success story. has it made those that started the company is successful beyond their dreams? yes, it has. it allowed us to give our sons and a chance i'd good educations and all those long hours of book reports worth every minute. it has given us at the deep satisfaction of being able to help in a way that others could never have imagined. this is important. i want you to hear what i'm going to say. to talk aboutike how he has helped others because he sees it as a privilege, not a political talking point. [cheers and applause]

we are no different than the millions of americans who quietly help their neighbors, their churches, and their communities. they do not do it so that others will think more of them. they do it because there is no greater joy. host: by the way, if your a delegate in charlotte and would like to call in and share a little bit of your experience, call 202-628-0284. here is a lot of good of an article. -- a little bit of an article

next call from -- on the role of first ladies and presidential campaigns, ariel in fremont, california. go ahead, we're listening. caller: on the role of first lady in a campaign, is basically to be a character witness.

i think the michelle did an incredible job. she is an incredible woman and has such a stage presence and is so good at captivating an audience. we have all known that. she has always been good at that. but what is more interesting is what ann did for the republicans. i am an independent. i have not decided to and going to vote for. why think about mitt romney and how are watched the campaign since the early part of this year i kind of thought about him as robotic and that i cannot really relate to him. but when she stood up there and talked about him i could finally see him as a real person. the one thing that caught me so much about his speech is that at one point she said, mitt romney will not fail. you really believe her. he is a great businessman. that is one thing that i thought was really cool about her speech.

they both did an incredible job, but i feel like she made me see fit -- mitt romney in more than a show that about obama because now i feel like he is a real person. that is all i have to say. host: coming up on the "washington journal" this morning will be talking a little later with laura leslie with wraltv. that is there in raleigh. jenna perata will be our guest later as well as martha croft. she is a university professor of political science. states go, north carolina, dixon, republican line. the role of first ladies in a presidential campaign. caller: it is kind of irrelevant.

they're going to agree with their husbands. but you can get some personal. ann romney gave a lot of personal information about her husband. she is a very compassionate person. i keep hearing the democrats preach that we are our brother's keeper. heldidn't barack obama his half-brother over in africa living in a hat? he needed some medical attention and barack obama would not even send him 20 bucks. it would mean a lot to him. as far as the convention last night, i knew they were in trouble when they had to cut the volume wide-open to make the illusion that everything was enthusiastic and loud. the only reason it sounded like that is because they had to cut the volume wide open to the audience to make it have the

illusion where everything sounded so much louder. that is deception. it was a smaller place than the republicans had and they still had to cut the volume wide open. why do you think they did that? that is my comment. host: that is dixon in statesboro, north carolina. here is a facebook comment. she the says the first lady brings us the private side of the president and takes on some important task that needs them -- a woman's touch or cannot compete with the situation room. and madeleine says, i'm glad to see the first lady gently itemize the stark differences between her husband's values and those of the republican platform. linda is a democrat in cook's ago, missouri -- cook'sville, missouri. good morning to you. caller: good morning to you, sir. host: we're listening.

linda, volume down. we're going to put you on hold. inre going to go to greg jacksonville, florida. he is on the independent line. caller: good morning. and thanks for taking my call. i am a "washington journal" and c-span viewer for 33 years, so i am the ultimate of peter mceachern to call in. i do know that c-span is very time limited with the cost, but one of the things that i continue to hear the media talking about is rallying the troops when it comes to the kinds of speeches that come on. i happen to watch all of the speeches and i happen to think that deval patrick made the best speech of all the persons who gave speeches. and with all due respect to the first lady, including the first lady. his speech was inspiring the

country about the needs of the country verses rallying the troops. of all the people at the conventions, they will be voting for their candidate in the way. -- any way. i thought deval patrick made the best speech of all of them. and when they have those kinds of speeches, the people should talk about the issues that will affect the country, and then inspiring those people again to vote for the candidates. back to the question that you have for today, mrs. obama had an excellent speech. it was also more pointed to the working class and to the middle class. her dress was extraordinarily beautiful. the word she gave to describe the beginning of her and the president's marriage was also inspiring. c-span is the best program on

the air. it is the best that work on the air. i want to say congratulations for over 33 years you have been doing the job for the american public. host: what do you do in jacksonville, florida? caller: i am a consultant. i have been watching politics of my life, including my teenage life. i turned into c-span in 1979 and it is just that. host: what kind of consultant? caller: military personnel. host: we appreciate you watching and we appreciate the commercial you just gave us. now let's go back to linda. kirk's ago, missouri. all you have to do is turn the volume down in your tv. you'll you're everything through your telephone. caller: ok. host: just go ahead. caller: linda, please, start talking. -- host: linda, please, start

talking. caller: i am a democrat and when i saw mrs. obama speak last night, it touched a lot of women and men when they would see their husbands work hard, even in the corporate world, even in the local jobs, even going to work really hard. i may call miners granddaughter. i can understand my grandpa, he was tired of working and 90 years old and he died. i can remember these hard days. i am 66 year-old. i concede -- can see her crying inside, and amera are barred her husband tried, that he is really getting slammed in congress.

and have never seen this with any president. i truly believe as hard a time that they are getting out in this campaign that obama will be the down-to-earth president. he does care about the pork, the middle class, and the rich. he cares about everybody. i think we need to give him a second term. everyone thinks there should be a quick fix and there is not any more in life. you always have to work harder to get better. you save more to get i saved more to get better financially. when i grow up, i lived on one

paycheck. i still work today at 66 years old. host: what do you do? caller: i still have the check. that is what the message is about. start at the bottom. thank you for letting me talk from a little town in missouri. host: linda, very quickly, what kind of work do you do? caller: i work part-time, 30 hours a week, and i work for a retail store, and i am very proud that i have a job. i kept calling every two weeks. it took me two months, but i got

in there, and i do not were just one job. i work all over the store. i work hard and long hours and i always tell everybody i love you, god bless america, and thank you for coming in. host: thank you for calling in. we look forward to hearing from you again. carlos, a republican in richmond, virginia. what do you think about the role of first ladies? caller: i think the first ladies are beautiful women, they fix them good, but it is a waste of time. i would rather see an extra hour given to who is running for president. let me hear how he is going to fix all of the troubles we have -- the unemployment, the budget -- that is what i want to hear.

host: that is carlos in richmond, virginia. this e-mail -- is not about who gave the best speeches. it is about $16 trillion in debt. if these people care about our children and grandchildren, they would be addressing that. the wonderful speech is going to fix this huge debt. here is more from michele obama. [video clip] >> i say this not just as first lady, not just as a wife. at the first -- at the end of the day, my most important title is still mom in chief. [applause] my daughters are still the heart of my heart, and the center of my world, but let me tell you today, i have none of those worries from four years ago -- and not about whether barack

obama and i were doing what is best for our girls. if today, i know from experience that if i truly want to leave a better world for my daughters and all of our sons and daughters, if we want to give all of our children a foundation for their dreams, opportunities worthy of their promise -- if we want to give them the sense of limitless possibility, the belief that here, in america, there is always something better out there if you are willing to work for it, then we must work like never before. [applause] we must once again come together, and stand together for the man that we can trust to keep moving this great country forward, my husband, our president, barack obama. thank you. god bless you.

god bless america. [applause] host: and on some of those shots right before they showed vice president joe biden, that was michele obama's brother, craig robinson. gabriel. new york city. independent line. what do you think about the role of first ladies in the campaign? caller: i think the fast -- first lady is fantastic. i'm growing up in new york city. i am 22 years old. i want to let everyone know this election will not even be close. the last election was not close at all. michele obama will propel barack obama through this election. people do not understand the calling these people have in the white house. it is about to go down.

host: atlanta, georgia. michael on our republican line. caller: good morning. i think both ladies at the rnc convention and the dnc convention -- hello? host:, we are listening, michael. caller: they have done a good job with their speeches, and i think the first lady was really good. i am a republican, and i can tell you she was really good. i give her props. what i wanted to say his i am a republican and i'm leaning to voting against my own candidate. host: why? caller: for a simple reason. if our canada does not trust me to show me his taxes, i cannot

trust him. it comes down to trust. he is going to be the first president in this modern time that has not shown taxes. he has shown one year. he promised to show another one. his father showed 12, or at least 10, and every other candidate showed at least seven. that really makes me uneasy. it is very uncomfortable, to be honest with you. what i saw last week in tampa really did not help me at all. so, today and tomorrow will be basically the day that will push me either way, but i am telling you right now i am a republican, and i will be voting against romney because of his taxes. host: howard is an independent in culpeper, virginia. caller: my wife spent 20-some

years on capitol hill. my father owned a small business for over 15 years. with the way the economy is we finished losing our house. there is so much pressure on the middle class. watching the conventions and all, one of the earlier callers made the perfect example -- the bottom line is coming down to -- i could tell what part -- i could care less what party somebody is from, but i want a candidate that is the best for the american people. somebody needs to come up from the ground up. i do not care how good someone's plans are for america. i will deal everything humanly possible to stop it. that scares me. host: that was howard in

culpeper, virginia. from political this morning -- there are some states where neither candidate will clear 50%. jim messina made clear of -- made clear that he is mindful of virgil goode. he said it is easy to understand what effect people will have on the ballot. there are some states were neither candidate will get to 50%. that is a little bit from jim messina, the campaign manager of the obama campaign. virgil goode is a former candidate and his running on the conservative side.

democratic lawmakers raise funds in charlotte, but none for obama -- not from obama. historically the president or the dnc has made large transfers of funds to the senate and house campaign committee to support congressional races. after months of waiting, they are not holding their breaths, but they would be delighted, but they're not counting on it. "at is from "the hill newspaper. we want to show you a mitt romney video. [video clip] >> is simple promise broken. >> i know how much progress you have made. i believe if our government is there to support you and give you the assistance you need to retool and make this transition,

this plant will be here for another hundred years. >> at that moment, a promise was made in 2008, when it was clear the plant would close, he said i would lead an effort to retool the plant. a promise made a second time. the simple fact, promises made on the campaign trail, promises broken in washington. host: from "the washington post" this morning -- food stamp use its record high. -- reaches a record high. participation was up in may, and 3.3% higher than one year earli.

that is in "the washington post, called this morning, -- washington post" this morning and in "the wall street journal" --

a call a little bit from -- a little bit from "the wall street journal" this morning.

we'll be live from charlotte. our kickoff program begins at 4:00 p.m.. the author of biographies on barack obama and bill clinton will be one of the guests. the schedule begins at 5:00 p.m. tonight. here are some of the speakers. diana degette of colorado, and john larsen are some of the speakers in the first hour, then president of the afl-cio, richard trumka, senators patty murray and charles schumer, and representative emanuel cleaver of missouri will be speaking in the 6:00 p.m. hour. in the 7:00 p.m. hour, nancy pelosi, tom vilsack, barbara mikulski, education secretary are the darkened -- are the duncan are some of the speakers.

in the 8:00 p.m. hour, steny hoyer, philadelphia and their michael nutter. chris then holland, sandra fluke, and the governor of delaware will be speaking in the 9:00 p.m. hour, and then finally elizabeth warren, running for senate in massachusetts, and former president bill clinton will give the nominating address this evening for barack obama. then there is the traditional roll call of states. that is coming up, with gavel- to-gavel coverage on c-span radio and c-span.org. we have been talking about the role of first ladies. we have a new series beginning on c-span on the first lady's early next year. here is a preview. [video clip] ♪

>> if we turn away from the needs of others, we align ourselves with those forces which are bringing about this suffering. >> the white house is a bully pulpit, and you ought to take advantage of it. >> obesity in this country is nothing short of a public health crisis. >> i think i have little antennas that went up and told me when somebody had their own agenda. >> if there is so much influence in that office, it would be ashamed to waste it. >> i think they serve as a window on the past to what was going on with american women. >> she becomes the chief confidante. she is the only one they can trust. >> many of the women who were first ladies were writers, journalists who wrote books.

>> they are, in many cases, more interesting as human beings than their husband, if only because they are not first and foremost defined and limited by political ambition. >> dolly was socially adept and politically savvy. >> dolly madison loved every minute of it. monroe hated it. >> she warned her husband, you cannot rule without including what women want and what women have to contribute. >> during this, there was too much looking down, and i think it was a little too fast. >> yes, ma'am. >> she is probably the most tragic of all or first ladies. they never should have married. >> she later wrote in her memoir that "i, myself, never made any decisions. i only decided what was

important and when to present it to my husband." now, you stop and think about how much power that is, it is a lot power. >> part of the battle against cancer is to fight the fear that accompanies the disease. >> she transformed the way we look at these bugaboos, and made it possible for countless people to survive and flourish as a result. i do not know how many presidents realistically have that kind of impact on the way we live our lives. >> just walking around the white house grounds i am constantly reminded about all of the people who have lived there before, and particularly all of the women. >> "first lady's -- influence and image" a new series on c-

span coming in february, 2013. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are back in charlotte where the democratic convention will kick off at 5:00 p.m. eastern time. our preview show begins at 4:00 p.m. eastern time. during us in our studio is laura leslie of wral-tv of raleigh, north carolina. laura leslie, tell us about wral-tv, and how you are covering this convention as a local north carolina reporter. guest: we have several cruise down here, a morning anchor and an evening anchor. i am dividing time between online content and television. we are looking at this in terms of the local delegation and the impact on state politics, and it

is fun to cover the convention. host: is it your first national convention? guest: it is not my first national convention, but charlotte is -- well, there are a lot of folks trying to get around the city, security issues, people not talking to other people, so the parameters change daily and the gates change daily, and on top of that we have had a lot of rain. i think a lot of the delegates are frustrated with the difficulty of getting around the city, but you can definitely say that it is secure. host: laura leslie, hollis tomorrow night looking for the bank of america stadium -- haoles tomorrow looking for the bank of america stadium? guest: it is a good question. we have heard that there would be busloads of supporters coming from different states, florida, south carolina, georgia.

it is not clear what would happen if they had to move inside the arena. i know they were thinking about recreating denver in 2008, but the weather in charlotte in september is not the weather in denver. it is anybody's guess what happens and i'll be interested to see how late they wait to make the announcement. host: you were in the arena last night. what was the enthusiasm level, been there in person? guest: it started slow. folks were trickling in, there were more popular speakers moving forward. by about 8:00, 9:00, the excitement was palpable. a lot of people were very excited to see julián castro, and, of course, michelle obama. she was the headliner of the night. the atmosphere during her speech was absolutely electric. i did not know that huge arena could get that quiet. she was talking in a normal tone of voice, and she had the place

in the palm of her hand. she brought down the house. host: what kind of activities are we not seen around this convention -- what else is going on in charlotte? by the way, the numbers are on the screen if you want to dial in. laura leslie of wral-tv in raleigh is our guest in charlotte. guest: where you are not seeing is the caucus meetings. during the day, the delegates are spending time at the convention center, the lbj t caucus, the african-american caucus -- all of these different groups are getting together to talk about november, to strategy is. those are things you will not see in the coverage for the most part. there are hundreds of events. some of them are open to the public. a lot of them are invitation- only. what you see on television is just a tiny fraction of what goes on. host: laura -- laura leslie as

our guest. first call comes from san diego, independent line. caller: i would like to speak about michelle obama's speech. she has a beautiful voice, and she and her husband make good speeches every time they speak. but they just spent three and a half years, and they did not do much. i am very upset. that is all i want to sit. thank you for your program. host: laura leslie, any comments? guest: one thing that struck me is that president obama has a reputation for lofty rhetoric, a well-deserved reputation, but michele obama's speech was every bit as powerful. she has this reputation as down-

to-earth, but she showed that she can speak just as well as her husband. i do now think -- do not think democrats were surprise, but the length and the power of her speech were a surprise to some people. host: laura leslie, who will win north carolina's 15 electoral votes? guest: if i knew that -- remember, in 2008, the state turned blue for the first time since 1976, but obama won the state by 14,000 votes, out of the millions that were cast. that was even with the excitement of his first campaign. some of that, not so much this time. we are higher than the national average for unemployed the young voters do not seem to be quite as engage, though it is early in the campaign for that. we have a strong gop contender on the gubernatorial ticket, who

almost one last time. it looks like it could be romney. one recent poll shows a dead heat. another recent poll shows romney is a few points up. he is really anybody's game in this state, but the gop definitely wants to see it turn red, and democratic party is in shambles. they lost the legislature for the first time yet -- since 1898 with republicans controlling both houses. it is demoralizing for the party. they are having trouble raising money. the party at this time is trying to take itself back up after 2010, and it will be interesting to see how much help they could be to get out to vote effort. host: if you would, described north carolina economically, socially and politically. guest: economically, it is a state that has lost a lot --

textile jobs, tobacco jobs, manufacturing jobs -- the state has been hit hard. it has been trying hard to recreate itself. we have a burgeoning film industry, a lot of tech, a lot of tourism, but the state is trying to figure out what the next big thing is going to be, and then, the recession. our unemployment rate was a little higher than the rest of the country and it remained stubbornly higher throughout the recession. it seems like it will be difficult for the state to get back down to being at the national average. socially, it is interesting. if the state has been run for a long time the democrats, but these are not the kind of democrats you would find in connecticut. they are very conservative. that is starting to change, and that is because of the influx of people moving in from california, new york, bringing

-- bringing some moderate republicans and more liberal democratic leanings. the growth of the state, and it is growing rapidly, is changing the political picture as we go. you asked about socially -- at think that covers it, or can i tell you more? host: if you have something to add, please do so, but it is fine otherwise. guest: i would add, we talk about it being a one-party state, and a lot of that is one of the problem is the democrats are facing in north carolina because they have been in control of the state government for a long time and money comes with power. there has not been a strong structure for fundraising for democrats in north carolina. after the 20. -- after the 2010 sweep for republicans, they are finding money is not coming their way anymore.

our incumbent the letter was expected to run for her second term in 2012, -- governor was expected to run for her second term in 2012, but then decided of property that she would not. if so, the gubernatorial candidate walter dalton had a late start in trying to get structure and organization together. he had to hit the ground running and started the game behind the republican. host: the next call for laura leslie of wral-tv in raleigh, n.c., kathy, democrats line, washington, d.c.. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. i am very excited to be a democrat today. the major media seems to be slanted, and i feel positive. i am better off than i was four years ago. i see these new paper plates on

the road as i to meet this morning, and last night here in michele bachmann speak and the folks before her, it empowers -- last night, hearing michele obama speak, and the folks before her, it empowers me. i listened to c-span every day, all day, and i hear the hearings in congress, and i hear what has been happening. here in the president's wife speak last night brought me back to what i have felt all along about the democratic party. i grew up when nixon was president, when we had watergate, and i heard mrs. nixon, and now years later the revelation about her life. my folks were start republicans. .'m from california i remember mrs. reagan been the

driving force during the time he was nominated and i watched what happened after all our country after the reagan years, the bush years, and i was waiting to feel this, and when clinton came in, i thought we came -- we were there, and we had 10 years of -- host: i will leave you there. guest: kathy, you are a target voter. what the democrats are doing in this convention is very much speaking to women. that is a smart strategy. republicans have traditionally had difficulty reaching women's voters, but let's let this tremendous line above women speakers. we have lilly ledbetter, and i hate to leave anybody out, but it was an amazing roster of women. what really caught my attention about michelle obama's speech is i felt like she was the one introducing her husband even

though president obama is an incumbent. that might be what you are talking about. in the 2008 campaign the president seemed accessible. he felt like you knew him, and then suddenly we did not have that access to his family life, to the white house and as the first lady explained, we are trying to protect the they were trying to protect their family, and people would understand that, but there was a sense that they retreated behind the walls of the white house. what the first lady did last night was basically to reintroduce her husband, and i think she did a good job of it. host: laura leslie, tonight is bill clinton's night. here is "the wall street journal." when you talk to delegates around charlotte, what do you hear about president bill clinton?

guest: they are very excited. even though he did not win north carolina, he plays very well in the south. even the republicans down here are looking for to hearing mr. clinton speak. i will be interested to hear what he brings to the table, what his pitch will be. i think julián castro last night took up the mantle of responding to the gop themes in tampa. i will be interested in seeing whether bill clinton continues along those lines or if he will be there to praise obama. host: the next call for laura leslie of wral-tv comes from kenney, a republican line. caller: i have to get something out that has been bugging me. i am so tired of the media and the way they portray obama as some kind of god. i'm tired of the way they lie about him and what he has done

he has done nothing. he is a worst terrorist than osama bin laden ever was, and his goal is to ruin america. if he is reelected, there will no longer be an america. host: can you tell us how you came to that conclusion? caller: listen to what he says. he thinks the government has to do everything for you. host: laura leslie? guest: that is not the message that was, of course, at the convention last night. several people made the point that the government cannot do everything for you, but there are some things the government can and should do. obviously, you can take issue with that. calling him a terrorist, i am not really sure where that is coming from. host: in "usa today" this morning, this headline --

republicans are main target of the opening day. did you see a lot of response to the republican convention? guest: i did not think that was the case. there were some jabs. lee ledbetter made a swipe at -- lee ledbetter made a swipe at mitt romney and swiss bank accounts. she said maybe 23 cents does not sound like a lot if you have a swiss bank account. that was pretty pointed. then there was a crack about the invisible share. -- share. i thought the point man was the keynote, the julián castro, and he responded to the republican themes without an attack attitude. his attitude was more sour full

understanding, i do not think mitt romney gets it. i think the democrats will try hard not to go to-in this because they are trying to portray themselves -- too negative because they want to portray hope and change continues, and if they go on the attack against the figures rather than the philosophies, it will be interesting to see how that plays with independent voters. host: any political gossip? any worries from the delegates? guest: we keep wondering if there will be a surprise guest. there has been obviously a rumor. betty white has been petitioned. that is the rumor that i have heard the most. also, another rumor that i know circulated among the people who saw the first lady of the speech last night is is she running?

could she round in 2016. i never considered the first lady might seek to succeed her husband, and i do not know if anyone established that as the case, but her speech did some more like a candidate than a spouse. i think a lot of people, but the democrats who were already big fans, were wondering if this could be the start of a political career. host: did become a virginia, bob, independent line. -- virginia, bob, independent line. caller: good morning. do you think that after the two ladies, mrs. obama, and mrs. romney, their testimonials -- is this something we will seek in a lot of commercials now? they will try to go and degrade their testimonials? already on the internet i have

seen several people claiming the mrs. romney was pregnant and had a late-term abortion. stuff like that. host: laura leslie? guest: rumors about candidate's espouses are nothing new in politics. we have not specifically seen candidates' spouses in political ads running on television, as opposed to wed ads which are cheaper and easier to produce. the joke that bob schieffer on cds made is when it comes to charisma, both of these candidates married up, and they like to describe their wives as their secret weapon. a lot of this election will be about the battle for women voters, and they make up a majority of the electorate, so

both parties have a vested interest in the killing more than the other party. host: laura leslie, if north carolina is in play, are you seeing a lot of political commercials on both sides? guest: you can barely watch tv, and i say that as a political reporter. it is constant from different campaigns and third-party groups as well. it is creating a little bit of trouble for our folks running at the state level and the congressional level because it is hard not to get drowned out when you are in the middle of this battleground presidential campaign advertising. a lot of the candidates are sitting back a little bit and waiting to go on the air until they see what happens because there are some folks on the republican side and the democratic side that say the other side will pull the ads. i think that is wishful thinking.

host: laura leslie, is former senator elizabeth dole a factor anymore in north carolina politics? gee, not that i know of. no, i would sit -- guest: not that i know of. no, i would say no. the feathers are of the gubernatorial candidates, and also the speaker refractors are the gubernatorial candidate -- the factors are the gubernatorial candidates and the speaker of the house. we will have to wait and see what happens. there is rampant speculation. host: is perdue term-limited? guest: she is not term-limited, but she is not running, and

according to the governor the reason she is not running is because she felt disheartened by the negativity that have arisen after 2010 when the republicans took over the legislature. she and the republican legislator -- legislature leaders have waged a public battle apparent sh -- battle. she has been in politics for a long time, so to suddenly realize it is-is it tough swallow. host: would she have faced a tough reelection? guest: she probably would have. at one point she was the most unpopular governor in the country, but her poll numbers were low. they were difficult. it seemed that when the republicans first took control of the legislature, there was some discussion that what she needed was a for all, someone to stand up to, as a colorist to someone tried to fix the

economy. it is sort of at this last minute in january she decided she would not run again, and that through her party and disarray. she was to see more of her grandkids. she might be hoping for a job in the above the administration if she wins reelection if he wins reelection host: one other north carolina politician -- if he wins reelection. host: another in north carolina dietician, -- politician, and charlie rose, a 12-term member of congress, and a ranking house our agricultural committee member. he had irregularities stemming from a misuse of campaign contributions for personal

expenses. he maintained he used the money to cover undocumented loans he and his father tentative. was charlie rose a major figure for a long time in north carolina politics? guest: is a little bit before my time, but he was certainly very well known. there was a lot of campaign irregularities in the old south democratic party. it is funny. we've seen some of those issues still playing out at the state level here. we had a governor that pled guilty to a felony for campaign finance reporting. with democratic leaders that have been brought up, taken to trial and pled guilty to various irregularities. it certainly was not just mr. rose host: is there a jesse helms contingent any more in north carolina? guest: there is definitely a jesse helms contingent, and it

is interesting that during the republican congressional primaries it was a race to see which candidate could get the helms family. his name still has a lot of weight and people that worked with him are still highly thought of. they're still party leaders. his former aides are running for congress. he definitely has a legacy here and did shape the party. host: next call for laura leslie, roberta, tucson, ariz., good morning. caller: good morning, magistral of the -- maestro of the mic. c-span, listen. i have a lot of knowledge on politics. my father went through the great depression, that was caused by republicans, and speculation

that included everything and we had a crash. that is what we have had. housing inflated. anybody could disagree with me. housing was inflated. prices of food were inflated. wages were not -- were not inflated, and now we have to answer for it? people-the money as far as they can, -- hide the money, and now we have a lot. my question is where is the money, how will you make it regular so the people here will not feel abused just like the native americans felt abused and finally demolished, and just like mexican-americans that were here probably before the age of columbus and on and on. host: roberto, let's leave it there and see if there is a

response from laura leslie. guest: you are touching on is a key issue in the presidential campaign. republicans say it is class warfare, an attack on the wealthy and success. the democrats say there is a difference between class warfare and paying your fair share. they say they're rich should have to pay more taxes. it is worth noting that neither the democrats or republicans appear to be serious about forcing money that is overseas or jobs that are offshore to come back. it has become a global economy and nobody is likely to put up to many walls to that because it simply will not work for us. as you listen to this campaign more, you will hear more themes like playing by the rules, something we heard last night at the convention, an application by democrats than republicans want to play by their own set of

rules, and republicans say they played by the rules of the free market and that is the best way to run the country. host: this morning in the "wall street journal" -- laura leslie? guest: that is a valid point, but i think it is probably worth pointing out in response to that that bill clinton had a lot of animosity from republican leadership in congress, but i do not think he experienced the

animosity to the degree that the current president has, and it is difficult to move to the center when the other side is not moving to the center with you. we heard from the very beginning, republican leaders in congress, they did not want the president's policies to succeed, and there has not been unity and consensus to go around in washington. we saw that with the debt crisis last year, the fiscal cliff. i think mr. obama, obviously, is going to have to move to the center, because that is what campaigns are about. you have to appeal to the independent voters without alunite in your base. i do not think he needs -- without alienating your base. i do not think he needs a clinton pivot. the question will be can he rekindled the excitement that he did in 2008, and given the economy, especially in north

carolina with the unemployment rate, it is not clear he will be able to do that. host: how would you describe southern democrats in 2012? guest: well, the ones here -- it is interesting. watching the speeches last night, i was in the nosebleed section, and you can see down on the floor. the women around me were really fired up, reacting, hollering, shouting back, clapping, standing up for speakers. the men around the did not seem to be as excited. they were not part dissipating the same way the women were. i found that -- participating the same way the women were. perhaps that says something about something democrats have known for a long time. in the south, there is a white male problem. they do well with women and minorities, but when it comes to your nascar and dad, they kind of have a problem, and that

is true when the republicans are hammering on the economy and fiscal accountability as their main issue in the election which they are and will continue to do because that is the biggest issue for most voters. host: the next call for laura leslie comes from baltimore on our republican line. caller: hello. it is interesting listening to you guys speak. to me, the thing that really concerns me is i did not hear too much about jobs, or how they will make jobs. all they tell you is we will help you, help you, help you, but it is all government and governments. that is impossible. we are a country that when i came here it was self- sufficient.

i do not want slued stamps. i want a job -- food stamps. i want a job. my daughter, she lost one job after the other and she does not want to go on food stamps. she does not want to get free housing. that is all the democrats are offering. the abortions -- women are not having abortions all the time. host: thank you for calling in. laura leslie? guest: if either party knew how to create jobs, i'm sure they would be saying sell, but this is the worst recession since the great depression, and both sides are trying to figure out how to do that. republican state government does not create jobs, but action the government does create a lot of

jobs, especially state and local, which is what helped to pull the country through the great depression. at this point, the government has done its bit, or least they tried with the stimulus package, and it does not seem to have had the benefit, which is something you'll hear about from republicans. i will say neither the republicans or the democrats have offered a lot of details about how exactly they will help us, and there are a lot of people in your daughter's position. the man who drove me in his taxicab has a master's degree, does accounting during the day, and drives a cab at night because he cannot pay to student loans. the jobs do not pay like they used to, they're not as prominent, and they do not have benefits. there is -- permanent, and they

do not have the benefits. there's a lot of anxiety and both sides and not a lot of dancers. host: myrtle beach. john, independent. caller: good morning. i had a comment and a question. one comment i wanted to make is the democrats keep talking about in 2008 we were at a pitfall, everybody was going to be out on the street, know where to go, no food to eat, anything. i was born in charlotte, north carolina. my father would be 84 years old. my mother would be 82. i do not think anyone understands the difference between the depression of the 1930's and 2008. i do not think there is a correlation. it was 10 times worse in the 1930's. no food stamps, nothing. that is number one. the democrats need to quit using

that as a pandering situation to make people believe it was a lot worse than it was, and number two, i have a question for the lady from raleigh, north carolina. why is the state of north carolina allowing immigrants from mexico to come in there, to get a driver's license, to get food stamps, to get public assistance with no social security, no identification, nothing at all? pat mid-query was the mayor at that time, and he allowed that to happen. the state of south carolina has not allow that to happen. it looks at north carolina is trying to stop that, but why was that allowed to go on for eight, or nine, or 10 years? host: laura leslie? guest: action, north carolina

does not allow immigrants to get a driver's license without a valid visa or passport. the argument used to be hit if you have people on the road, would you rather not have them injured? that has been -- in shared. -- insured. that has been stopped. there has been talk about immigrants getting the illegal immigrants getting food stamps and welfare -- illegal immigrants getting food stamps and welfare, but exit, they cannot. when they applied for -- actually, they cannot. when they apply, they are asked for proof. there was a study on that because there was -- they were convinced there was fraud in the welfare system, and they found not very much at all. sometimes undocumented people

use the emergency rooms, but that tended to be the largest expense. host: laura leslie, several of the speakers last night on day one of the democratic national convention spoke about president obama's new immigration policy and about gay marriage. what were the reactions to those issues? guest: immigration, the whole issue, the dream that, that got a huge response, and you saw convention planners speaking directly to that. a working out, the julián castro, a rising star, the mayor of san antonio, and then, of course, antonio villaraigosa. we will hear a lot about that today. they are happy to see the dream that, but they're not happy about the cut off. they say this is something they will have to work for.

on the republican side, and many republicans are not happy about the dream that, they think it is moving towards amnesty -- dream at. they think it is -- act. they think it is moving towards amnesty. gay marriage is interesting. they passed a law banning all. when the president made his position about marriage equality, that was the day after the state passed a constitutional amendment. there are members of the african-american community, especially conservative pastors, if they're speaking out against the president, telling their congregation not to vote for president obama because he is taking this position. he is not clear how much of a dampening effect this will have on turnout.

i have a feeling it will not be too high on the list for most voters. it is interesting that we have african-american pastors working against the present because of this one issue. host: florida. andy. you are on "the washington journal." caller: i'm happy to hear you speak. you are a fair person. you tell it like it is, you know? i believe the shallow, but not a good speech. they all did. they spoke -- i believe michele obama put on a good speech. they all did. i believe in america. let me turn my volume down. i believe in america. not that i am saying anything special, but i was a rescue worker at the world trade center. i love this country. i heard last night people

speaking the truth. whether it is going to be that way or not, i heard the truth last night, and i live down here in florida. most people down here, not most people, they just do not like the president, and that is why they're voting against him. but jobs that have gone in this country have all been outsourced by people that really do not love america. they love money. if you are a christian, what i heard is you cannot love money and god, so he'd want and love the other. god bless america, and i hope everyone makes the right choice. i'm for the president. host: laura leslie, any response for that caller? guest: i would add it is fair to say there is a certain amount of animosity that goes into opposition for president obama, and a lot of that is fueled by

partisan media outlets, but you could also say that the president and his administration have not done the best job of presenting what they have been doing right. i hate to go back to this, but we have not seen that much of the president been out of the white house for the first couple of years. democrats say he was dealing with the crisis, and that is fair, but i think when you take yourself out of the conversation it becomes easier for other people to control it, and you could make the argument that that is essentially what happened to the president and he allowed himself to be defined as a person that perhaps he is not really. host: at the natural -- national journal briefing that we will bring you live in approximately a half hour, the talk will be on house and senate races. laura leslie, any hot north carolina house and senate races that we should be aware of? guest: a lot, but i will focus

on one or two. incumbent mike mcintyre in the second district here, he is not here. he is one of those democrats that could pass for a republican anywhere else. when you see his badge, the word democrat is not anywhere on there. he is facing a difficult fight. also, we have a democrat that has barely been elected a couple of times from the fayetteville area. he is facing a tough fight and could also use his seat. i know the republicans are putting a lot of money into the two candidates, richard hudson and david, who their backing, and they are considered the young guns. republicans will be putting a lot of money into these races. it will be interesting to see whether democrats can or will decide tohost: how was the turnr

paul ryan this week? if caller: -- guest: it was good. the conservatives in north carolina were not that excited about mitt romney when you first came out. they were not sure if he was conservative enough for them. the addition of paul ryan really energize them, especially the tea party. there are a lot of tea party folks here in north carolina and they have been active in state politics in general. of course, republican gubernatorial candidate pat shacorie is there with him, and very happy to be associated with the ticket. rochester host:, new york, judy, please go ahead on the republican line. caller: you have been very interesting to listen to. i do have a few comments. i'm just a paeon person working hard to survive. i have listened to but the

republican and democrat speeches and i thought the one side or very well practiced speeches. -- well crafted speeches. and i say the word crafted because you used it. whoever their writers are, they do a very good job. but i do not think it always comes from their heart or from what they actually do. i think actions speak louder than words. and i do not see the actions of the things that they were seen happening. -- saying happening. her work hard to pay for my birth control pills. i do not think -- i work hard for my birth control pills. i do not think we should be going out and having abortions all the time. i think rape happens and if a woman should desire to do so, then she should have an abortion. i made -- i am a hairdresser. i tell me that they have had two or three abortions just because they go out and play around.

the government should not be paying for their birth control pills because the government is me. i am the one paying for those birth control pills, no one else. host: laura lesley. guest: that is a good point. it is easy for some died in the wool democrats to talk about the things that government can and should do for the people. it is easy to forget that many people like you, they year, government, and they think my pocket. trying to decide the best way to spend the money, as you said, birth control is an issue for you. it is going to be one of the defining things about this election. i do want to respond -- respond to your comment about the word crafted. the thing about conventions that they are spectacle. their projections on the lines of the biggest broadway had you ever seen. there choreographed.

-- they are choreographed by you are right, what makes a great speech has very little to do with the person giving it sometimes and whether or not they believe it. we were told that the first lady wrote her speech, perhaps, worked on it for months. that is why it sounded so much like her brother then something she was handed to read. host: and the president of planned parenthood is speaking at the convention tonight and the president of naro is speaking as well. host: -- guest: the presidentnaro -- the president of naro got a wonderful

reception last night. she was the one referred to in and get the -- undefined terms by a talk show host. the rate issue is not going away. the democrats see this as a wedge to pride in it and a woman back to their ticket who might be feeling disillusioned about their support for obama in 2008. they will definitely hammered his home. host: sandra sloot will be speaking at the 9:00 p.m. hour this evening and the planned parenthood president will be speaking in the 8:00 p.m. hour. laura lesley, thanks for spending some time with us this morning on the "washington journal." guest: thank you for the invite. it was fun. host: our live programming will continue for about 25 minutes or

so where we will continue to talk to you and get your views on day two of the convention. bill clinton will be the closer this evening. whatever you want to talk about related to the democratic national convention, day two will be open game. we want to hear from you in just a minute. but first, here's a little bit more of michelle obama from last night. [video clip] >> when people ask me whether being in the white house has changed my husband, i can honestly say that when it comes to his character and his convictions and his heart, barack obama is still the same and i fell in love with all those years ago. [applause] he is the same man who started his career by turning down high- paying jobs, and instead, working and struggling neighborhoods, where a steel plant had shut down, fighting to renew those communities and get

people back to work. because of four broad, it is not about how much money you make ramat but success is the difference you make in people's -- how much money you make, but success is the difference in making people's lives. [cheers and applause] he is the same man. he is the same man has won our girls were first born would anxiously checked their cribs every few minutes to ensure they were still breathing, proudly showing them off to everyone we knew. that is the man who sits down with me and our girls for dinner nearly every night, patiently answering questions about issues in the news, strategizing about middle school friendships. [laughter] that is the man i.c.e. in those

quiet moments -- that is the man spicey in those quiet moments late at night hunched over his desk poring over the letters that are sent to him, the letters from the man, the father struggling to pay his bills, from the woman who is dying of cancer because insurance companies will not cover care, from the and people with so much promise, but so few opportunities. i see the concern in his eyes and i hear the determination in his voice as he tells me, you will not believe what these folks are going through, michelle. it is not right. we've got to keep working to fix this. we got some much more to do. [cheers and applause] and i.c.e. -- i see --

[cheers and applause] host: live coverage from charlotte continues here on c- span. that is a picture of the time warner cable arena in uptown, also known as downtown charlotte. the convention will kick off at 5:00 p.m. eastern time. our preview coverage will kick off from the floor of the convention at 4:00 p.m. eastern time. one of the guest is david maraniss, associate editor of the "washington post" who has written biographies on president obama and bill clinton. bill clinton is the closer tonight. as the convention gets underway at 5:00 p.m., here are some of the highlights, some of the speakers.

all live gavel-to-gavel coverage on c-span, c-span.org and you can listen to it on c-span radio as well. a little bit of time for open phones now. the democratic convention day two. ashleigh in charleston, south carolina, independent line. you are up first. caller: i just saw the democrats speech and i saw the republicans the other night. it seemed like the other night they brought in and hispanic for

speaking. it does the same kind of biased in a sense. host: how so? what does that mean? caller: well, of course, we have our first african-american president. and now we have our hispanic speaking under his side on the democrats. it it does seem to be very wide on the republican side -- white on the republican side. it just seems to be racially charged or by is, in my opinion. host: michael is a republican in long beach, mississippi. good morning to you. caller: good morning to you. let me give you an example if i may. i buy a car and i'm so excited that i cannot hardly stand it and at the end of four years i will be enough to buy another car. i have not been pleased with the

car at all. it hardly has done a thing for me and the new model that they come out with at the end of the four years is not have any different features. i'm not going to buy it. barack obama's 53% that he won with came with these masses of crowds that simply do not exist today. i will specify to that there is no possible way that he can win. he has done nothing. and i see that people are not stupid enough to see that. host: that is my goal in long beach, mississippi. the front page of the "financial times."

as a little bit from the "financial times" this morning. and there is something from poliyifact.com. they have barack obama spots top-10 broken and kept promises.

again, if you want to see the top 10 rogan and kept promises, you can go to politifact.com. top-10 kept promises were --

those are some of the promises and unkept promises, according to politifact. haleh in florida. what do you want to talk about? caller: i want to talk about the degree to twin the democrats and republicans. the democrats, they know how to govern. but they do not really used the right talking points. republicans, they do not know how to govern.

they are about money, power, and control. the democrats, they look out for the whole country. everybody, think about this. how could you bring this country down like you did and then not even try to help fix what you did? i do not understand why anybody would go back and vote for the party that does not do anything for them, but just 41% in the country. host: betty is a -- but just for the 1% in the country. host: betty in davenport caller:, florida good morning. -- host: betty in davenport, florida.

caller: good morning. i am an 80-year-old lady. my partner is 86. my father was a democrat and my mother's a republican. both sides were highly educated. my mother was a schoolteacher and they taught me politics every night. i have voted more republican than i have democrat. there were a couple of times i voted democrat. but i am now so fed up with the republican party, and last night after listening to the convention and the two people that spoke that they were republican and why they left, they took the words right out of my mouth. this is not a party my mother knew. my mother would turn over in her grave. i am living with a man that was a republican. we have many discussions.

he is catholic. i am protestants. he is saying the same thing. this is not his party. he has now turned independent. i am going to vote this time democratic. i guess i'm a little bit like charlie crist. my heart is broken over what i am seeing with the republican party. i do not like votel -- the dominant that just called a little while ago that says i'm stupid. i'm not stupid. i'm highly educated. i am a retired nurse. i had a lady in my house yesterday that said i -- that was republican. she said she had to get on to watch the republican convention and she said she was not going to vote for romney, but she was not going to vote for -- and i can i use that word, the inward. and i told her got we do not use that word in my house.

i have two great-grandchildren that are biracial. this is a jet -- a different generation. i realize my granddaughter was going to have a biracial child and i was very upset. they wore -- they are now 19 and 15 and they are beautiful. they are the best children, never been on drugs. they have higher grades. i love them as much as i love my other twentysomething grandchildren. it is just a different world. host: betty, before you moved to florida, are you from there all of your life? caller: no, i have been there 20 something years. host: from where? caller: the troy, michigan. -- detroit, michigan. i live in a park with 300 something other seniors. i have been president of the homeowners association until this last year, but i retire

because my man is going to be 97 in october. and he had a stroke. i am very political, but i can see both sides. it is time that people look at both sides. the question is, are you better off than four years ago? being a senior and having social security, i am the same. but i do not want to go back to what was four years ago. it is like my man said, he lived through the depression. he was about a third person on social security as a young man. and he was told, you are never going to ever collect that money. guess what, 35 years he has collected it. and that is what he says about the affordable care act. he says, i'm not listening to that stuff because i've been through it with social security.

host: it is always good to hear from a betty. my mom is an 80-year-old betty. and she is a widowed ladies, so maybe you're man has a brother for her. if he does, just give a call back. good to hear from you. next call from joe in indiana. hi, joe. caller: thank you for taking my call and i just want to say that i think the democrat convention is going very well. the thing i want to say is that as a volunteer chaplain for hospice, i hear from a lot of people that are very concerned. the major thing they are saying is they are worried for their children. and for their last moments to be focused on those types of things, it is really sad. their children and their grandchildren. you know, the present

administration have been really bad storage over our country. that is what -- really bad stewards over our country. that is what they are saying. not only the seniors, the children and grandchildren are seeing how hard it is to get a job now. there is a lot we have to look beyond, the motions that they are giving right now as far as the warm and fuzzy, yes, that is od. but we need to look into that as my grandmother used to say, and we need to see the proof in the pudding. home values are depleting. now that they are into a serious live situation, they have to sell what they have and not get very much for it. it is a sad situation and we need to take this administration and either turn it around or go to the republican side.

there have been bad situations on the republican side, but i think there is so much blood that can be brought to the order of the business of the country. host: how would you describe the economy in richmond, indiana? what is the unemployment rate? caller: it is over 8%, and that is hidden because of the way the government is now given -- well, they and bring them in and give them money. when they are put on two different government programs, they are taken off of the unemployment numbers. therefore, the numbers are higher than what you get to see. we are seeing the mom-and-pop businesses having to close their doors. it is very sad. that is what made middle america, and america itself a very strong country, because our entrepreneurship and are mom-

and-pop businesses, which is the main tax base in most cases. host: we will leave it there. that was joe in richmond, indiana. from the convention with --

that is from the "washington post". nexpo, tenn., eleanor on the independent line -- minoxidil, tenn., lenore on the independent line. caller: i have a family of three children and my husband is studying. after obama/biden to our office, we got a letter and the minute -- in the mail -- after obama got into office, we got a letter in the mail about a loan from

the government, and we would not have to pay interest and talk to my husband graduated. -- until after my husband graduated. i feel sorry because we were not given a choice. i would have preferred to stay with the private company. we would have preferred to keep the burden on our own shoulders and so -- instead of adding to the national debt without being asked if i wanted to. now we have to owe the government. and when he gets the job, we will have to pay back the government. i feel uncomfortable with that and i wish i would have had a choice. i am independent. i actually agree with romney, though. they should have just let it go bankrupt. they would have been fine. american airlines has been talking about bankruptcy for a long time, but they are still

fine. my father worked for them. my sisters chiropractor practice went down during the obama administration. a lot of people have been hurt. host: carl is a republican in a little late new jersey -- a little lake, new jersey. caller: i want to say a couple of things. i think the michelle -- hi, how're you doing? host: you got to turn on -- turned down the volume on the tv. caller: hang on. host: we will put you on hold. it will come back. and they get in texas. please go ahead with your comment. caller: thank you for allowing my comments. i watched both conventions. i was very pleased, being a

texan, with the democratic leaders in texas. and i was proud to see the young mayor from san antonio speak. i think is a good way to go. i am a retired teacher. i heard teachers spoken about positively for probably the first time in five years. i think they touched the bases of the middle class with the police and the firefighters and the teachers. we have been struggling for the past four years. it is not like everybody has not been taking it in, but there has been so much obstruction on the republican side. i of pre-existing conditions and maybe three times i've gone without health care.

i want my pre-existing conditions covered. i think we should stick with obama. i think he is completely caring, and i do not see that from romney at all. i do not think he lived my life or understands me at all. host: that is susan in neater land, texas. back to carl in lake harbor, new jersey. please go ahead with your comments. caller: thank you for having me. i am a member of the united brotherhood of carpenters of america. i have been out of work. i think obama is really trying. but one major thing we need to ourselves ase america. one of the things you can do is when you see fema working to are

the americans or not? -- working, are they americans or not? that would be a great start to lower unemployment immediately. we have a lot of veterans coming over. i'm worried about them, and the jobs they will have. they have served us. this is a way for us to put them to work, put the card orders to work, put everybody to work and help rebuild america -- put the carpenters to work, put everybody to work and help rebuild america. i want to say thank you to obama for everything he did. host: was carl in new jersey. later this morning we will talk to the president of la rasa and other guests. the national journal will be starting his morning briefing from charlotte in just a little

while. this is a focus on house and senate races nationwide. reid wilson, who was the editor of the hotline publication, and john dickerson of "time" will be the two maters at -- moderator's. representative chris van hollen will be one of the guests, along with jennifer duffy. she is an expert on senate and governor's races with the cook political report " -- report. and david wasserman, you also probably know well on the house side for the cook political report. john on the independent line from richmond, virginia. caller: i want to say that i've watched both the republican convention and yesterday, the democrat convention. you are seeing way too much, and circumstance from a lot of the speakers. they are trying to get slogan's going and stuff like that. it was very obvious last night with the democrat convention.

but i do think michele obama's speech, even though when she purrs cavnar she actually seemed a little robotic to me, -- when she first came out she actually seemed a little robotic to me, but when she spoke it was obvious that she took a month to write that speech, basically. it was from the heart. i think it will resonate with the voters. i have one question for republicans, and mitt romney especially. if lowering taxes and deregulating businesses is supposed to lower debt, why do we not have a surplus right now and more jobs than we can handle? a lot of people are saying that we need to look at barack obama for these jobs. i think we need to be looking at people like mitt romney and bank of america and all of these corporations that are making

record profits and not hiring anybody so they can continue making their own personal profits. host: jonathan, a democrat, fort lauderdale, florida. please go ahead with your comments. the democratic national convention convenes at 5:00 p.m. eastern today. caller: what i wanted to comment on was a few bullet points with the obama administration, because how soon we forget. nobel peace prize. he brought the troops back home. the fact that the auto industry, he saved the auto industry. he kept american jobs. if you have to start somewhere, at least, take one step. granted, we are not where we want to be, but i do believe obama is definitely in the right direction. having said that, i do not believe the republican party is going to put us in a changed

direction in a way that will be able to benefit as a country. i just think that obama has done a great job and he stuck to his guns. i have to believe that will be the continued direction. host: jonathan, what do you do in fort lauderdale? caller: i am in sales. what host: do you sale -- cell? -- host: what do you sell? caller: i am in the foreclosure market. host: how is business? caller: there is plenty of help out there that a lot of homeowners are not aware of. host: thanks for calling in. in the "washington journal" and -- "wall street journal" and others, here is the report on cars.

houston, debbie, republican line. good morning to you. caller: good morning. i am a 58-year-old and there was a time that this country actually loaned money to other countries. that is one we had a surplus. we do not alone anymore. we borrow. there is a big difference. yahoo! to mr. obama for all the great things you did. you get a lot of great things, but you did it on an empty pocketbook. when you do something with no money in your pocket, it is going to fail. we do not have the money. we are globalizing, which is not working out for anybody in the world. we are struggling on the home

front for our united states citizens. and wall street has been corrupt. washington has been corrupt. i counted just in a waste and fraud, the gsa -- host: debbie, i apologize. we are to have to leave your comments there. the national journal preview from charlotte light is just beginning. >> on behalf of everybody at the national journal, the atlantic and cbs news, it is my pleasure to welcome you here this morning. i will give you a quick introduction and then will be off. we're doing these briefings every morning at the mccollough center. you are welcome to join us. we will be doing one more tomorrow. we are very fortunate to be able to gather, and we would not be able to have these stimulating discussions without the underwriting support of the american federation of teachers,

the credit union national association, and in spending, pfizer, the property-casualty insurers association of america, united technologies, and volkswagen. thank you to all of our writers for their generous support. every morning, we are having a different discussion, and this morning and we will be looking at the house and senate races. we're very lucky to be joined by congressman ben hollen -- van hollen. will also have the executive director of the senatorial and the national director of ctrip. we will have this live online and on television. those of you that our online or watching on c-span, join us in

this conversation we welcome your questions and comments. the house check for doing that is #dailybriefing. it will bring up the editor-in- chief of national journal, which will be celebrating its 25th anniversary later this month. prior to joining hot line, reed was the stock right -- a staff writer for the hill and he also covered the elections for real politics. in the middle we have representative van hollen. and last but not least, joining us from cbs is john dickerson, our political director. he provides online analysis and contributes to all cbs news broadcast across the networks. thank you for joining us this morning.

i turn it over to you. >> thank you very much. i read wilson, editor of the hotline. i want to welcome everybody here. a quick word about how the morning is going to go. we will talk to the congressman for a little bit and open it up to your questions as well. that will talk to the heads of the democratic senatorial campaign committee, the democratic congressional campaign committee and their analysts, will tell you why they are spending what they are spending and what is the truth. congressman, you have a prime- time speech coming up. give us a preview. what will you talk about? well, first, -- >> well, first, thank you for putting this together. read -- reid, you set a high standard for the questions, much more so than in the house.

tonight, i will be doing a lot of what our speakers have been doing, but more so with regard to the budget. i will flush out the differences in choices that we have with president barack obama and the romney's/reihan ticket. fundamentally, you have the president's plan, which says we need to continue to grow our economy by making imports and investments in the future, whether it is education or infrastructure, but also that we have to reduce our deficit in a balanced way. the question is not whether we reduce our deficit and debt. we have got to do that. the issue is how. the president has put forward a for a work that is very closely modeled after the bipartisan simpson-bowles model. it is a mix of cuts, but also revenue derived from asking very high income earners to pay a little bit more. as they did during the clinton

administration when the economy was booming. you contrast that approach with the brahney/ryan approach where because if they -- because they do not ask for one more penny from very wealthy individuals, the math follows. they hit everybody else really hard. if you are serious about ending the debt, as we should be, you woke cut -- you will cut dramatically into our infrastructure. and the independent group of the tax policy center analyzed the brahney tax plan and said if you do that consistent with the principles he has laid out, you will increase the tax burden on middle-class families and finance tax cuts for the wealthy by increasing those taxes on low-income families. a very different approach the president has laid out. i would argue that for people who want to make sure that the american dream is available to everybody, that the president's approach gets us there, and that

the romney/ryan approach does not. >> there has been a lot of talk about romney and his speech last week. in your speech, would you address any of the inaccuracies that -- inaccuracies that people talked about? and secondly, were you surprised by his speech? the president, his targets are calling congressman ryan a liar. does that match with your understanding of him? >> as to my speech, you ought to stay tuned on the details of my speech. i should say that i get along well with paul reihan personally. we do have the policy differences and we debate them vigorously on the budget committee and on the floor of the house. i was very disappointed in paul ryan's acceptance speech, as i think everybody who follows these issues and knows it was a three-alarm fire for the fact

checkers. he misrepresented the facts repeatedly. beginning with the claim that an of plant in his district had been closed on president obama's watch. that was the clear implication of what he said. it just isn't true. another false statement is that had president obama not acted and helped to rescue the auto industry in manufacturing, a lot more plants would have closed down. if we have listened to mitt romney, was in favor of the wall street rescue, which was a bitter pill for all of us to swallow, he saw a government role for that. but when it came to rest during the our manufacturers and workers -- rescuing the auto manufacturers and workers, he wanted to leave them on their own. that is mr. presented the facts. -- misrepresenting the facts.

and it is a signal from -- of what we're seeing from the entire republican campaign. >> paul reihan has said the medicare fight is one he is anxious to have. do you recognize the way in which he talks about the fiscal situation, and medicare in particular on the campaign trail, does that match the paul ryan and the level of specificity that he used to use in his previous incarnation? >> no, it does not. what i see from the romney/ryan campaign is, frankly, to try out a lot of misinformation to seniors as a smokescreen that will cover up the implications of their plan for seniors, which is very bad for seniors. let me start with the implications of undoing obamacare as it relates to medicare. the one sensible thing that paul

ryan did in his budget was to keep the savings we achieve in obamacare. he recognized it did not make sense to overpay the private insurance companies with the medicare advantage plans. he recognized the other important savings. in the paul ryan budget, every penny of savings achieved in the affordable care act is a, inc. -- is incorporated into that budget. the first thing you do is you say, we will pay the private shirt -- private insurance companies and other providers more. that increases the overall medicare expenditure. medicare beneficiaries pay a share through premiums and copays. now they will be paying more in premiums so that we can restore over payments to the private insurance companies. it comes to about $300 per year on average over the next 10 years. if your a never-heavy user of

prescription drugs, you will immediately -- if you are a heavy user of prescription drugs, you immediately pay more. on the voucher plan, it is very simple. it is designed to give a senior a voucher and the value of the voucher will decline over time relative to rising health-care costs, a very different approach than what we took with the affordable health care act. this is an important conversation for the american people. i hope we can cut through a lot of the misinformation out there. >> let's talk about your position as the chairman of the democratic campaign committee. you had one great cycle and then a not so great cycle in 2010. talk about what you see going on today in house races across the country. >> my successor is doing a really great job. there is no doubt we will pick up seats. the momentum is with us.

we are within shooting distance, depending on what is going on in the presidential race, you know, hitting the majority. we recognize there are over 60 days to go. these races have really been sharpened because paul ryan was added to the ticket. the reason for that is this. there are a lot of republican house members that were running away from the reihan budget. they voted for the budget, but when people began to realize what was in it, they started running away from it. that is easy to do when the author of the plan is not on the presidential ticket. now that it is the brahney/ryan plan, along with the members that voted for the plan, they ought to take responsibility and it will be held accountable.

that has given a tremendous boost to a lot of our candidates. >> nancy pelosi said earlier this week that you are likely to pick up 27 seats. you need 25 to be in the majority. do you think that is realistic, netting 27? >> with the momentum that we've got and was what the president continues to do well in some of these key states, that is achievable. the lamentable is there. we just got to keep it moving. >> let's -- the momentum is there. we have just got to keep it moving. >> republicans thought that they have fought the medicare argument to a draw by using the obamacare medicare cuts, the sort of moving the money around as an effective counter. do you see the medicare argument playing out in these races? do you think that the

republicans fought it to a draw? >> i do not think so, if the american people understand what is at stake. that is the challenge, we got to cut through a lot of the misinformation out there. i think a lot of our candidates are effectively doing it. between now and the election, the president will effectively do that. we have a lot of debates coming where people will square off. it is a lot harder in my view to hide the facts in the full glare of the public light. of course, we also have another test case of this in of state, new york -- in upstate new york where the democratic candidates won. we will see how this plays out, but there is no doubt than the near-term, seniors will immediately pay more. it is indisputable that they will pay more if they have prescription drugs and on premiums for these overpayments.

and it will pay more for preventive out services. and if you look at their plan, they achieved the voucher program by giving people a voucher that does not keep pace with projected cost of health care. and they are proposing much worse health plan for seniors. -- for seniors and members of congress have for themselves members of congress -- they're proposing a much worse health plan for seniors than members of congress have for themselves. regardless of how much health care costs rise, the plan pays for a certain percentage. in this case, 72%. health care goes up, you are protected against that risk. what romney and ryan are proposing for seniors is where the support you are getting from the medicare plan, that goes down relative to rising health- care costs, because they would

cap the amount of the doctor related to health care costs. and that is very different than the challenges we they out in the affordable care act. >> romney says there is no cap. they argue that because they did not need to get it scored the way that ryan did, no need for a cat. the market will take care of the lower health-care costs, and therefore, no need for the problem you talk about. it what is your response to that argument? when you ask for evidence, what model they follow that explains why costs will go down, they part -- they point to medicare part b and things like that. give me a sense of the savings. >> if you look at medicare, we do have a private out care plan. not just for prescription drugs, but we have medicare advantage.

the reason for medicare abandon the 1990's is that it would drive down costs and provide competition. medicare advantage plans were over subsidized to the tune of 114%. which is why we achieved some savings by saying it makes no sense for taxpayers and people on medicare to be over subsidizing private insurance. that is number one. no. 2, the congressional budget office scored the earlier ryan plan and the concepts and principles are the same. they concluded that their plan would not contain the rise of health care costs. it simply transfers the rising health-care costs on to seniors, so that the year earlier budget plan, the congressional budget office estimated, would add over $6,000 a year to the cost being paid by beneficiaries. they played with that plan.

they may change it, but the concepts behind it are what is driving it. the reason we went through medicare the first place was because the private insurance market did not think there was a lot of money to be made in insuring sick or older people. if you fragment medicare's ability to bargain, you will weaken their ability to hold down costs. if you look at the per benefit beneficiary costs in medicare, they have risen somewhat more slowly than the per benefit beneficiary cross in the private health market. it is like the difference between a small hmo and a big hmo. the big hmo can bargain more strongly. that is what the cbo concluded that it would not contain costs, but transfer them to seniors. >> you talk about the trouble with adding paul ryan to the republican ticket. obviously, the president is a weight on certain house members.

we have several in north carolina and could take a taxi across town to come to the convention, and are not. two things, talk about those had with a little bit. and you can never run away from your president, but some people are nevertheless trying. >> every congressional district is different each has its own dynamics. on the whole, the president is a huge benefit to our candidates. the turnout and excitement around the presidential race will help generate that kind of turn out. that is true in a state like north carolina where the turnout in support of the president will help the democratic candidates, even those who are also in districts that are tougher in terms of the overall makeup. it is important to remember that in 2008, that was the good year.

2010, that was tough. in 2008, lots of candidates won from conservative districts where the president did not win. in my state of maryland, frank reddick 1. he won the independent vote, but he also won because of a larger turnout for the president. >> at does anybody have a question for congressman dan hollen? -- van hollen? i have another one. president obama says if he wins the election, it might break the fever on capitol hill and it might make republicans actually work with democrats in the senate. do think that is realistic? if paul ryan comes back and is on the budget committee, you think he will suddenly be interested in working across the aisle? >> what the president said, and i agree with the president -- if the president wins reelection,

which i think he will, and the democrats maintain the majority in the senate, which i think they will, under this scenario the resumption behind your question is that the democrats will not win the house. i disagree with that. but let's just assume that we make gains. the fact that we have made gains and the president has been reelected, i think that will strengthen hand of a very few people in the house who understand that in order to get things that we ought to compromise for the good of the country. whether it is enough, i do not know. but the president has some very important leverage in this debate. that deals with the tax issue. the president has asked the congress to act immediately, today, to extend tax relief to the vast middle class of the country, 98% of the american people. 97%, i should add, of all pass- through businesses.

and as an aside, it is important to understand that when mitt romney and paul reihan talk about the other so-called small businesses, they are including bain capital and other fortune 500 companies. that is what they are calling small businesses. the president says, let's act right now. so far, republicans in congress have taken the position that nobody gets tax relief unless the top 2% get tax relief. nobody gets tax relief unless people like mitt romney gets a tax relief, and bain capital get tax relief. that is a position that they have taken. if they continue that, which looks like they will, then we have the end of the year. at that point, we go across the board to the tax breaks. the president has made clear that he does not want taxes to go up on middle-class -- middle- income americans.

mitt romney and paul ryan are in an untenable position because it will be very clear to the country then that they are blocking tax cuts in order to leverage these tax breaks for the folks at the top. i think that will strengthen the president's hand significantly and finally allow us to get to the balanced approach that has been recommended by bipartisan groups to include revenue and cuts. >> but the president was making an argument to years ago and he worked out a way to extend them for republicans. after this election, you can imagine a republican face with the same choice, they will face an off-year election in which she party -- a tea party republicans will not vote to extend all of the bush tax cuts. they're all going to face they're all going to face